The war of words has started again. And it’s the same old faces – Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger – quibbling around trying to get an upper hand over one another. At times it borders on farce and meaningless, but it is developing into an interesting rivalry, one that can be defined as a love-hate relationship between the two iconic managers.
Mourinho hardly gets tired of riling up Wenger and Arsenal fans with snide remarks, while the Frenchman has often lost his temper during his confrontations with the former Real Madrid manager.
During Chelsea’s recent visit to the Emirates, the match ending in a 0-0 draw, Arsenal fans chanted “boring, boring Chelsea” as Mourinho’s men took another step towards winning the Premier League title.
Mourinho responded to those chants by telling reporters: “You know, I think boring is 10 years without a title. That’s very boring.”
The Chelsea boss in another interview, where he spoke about next season’s challenges, described Arsenal as a “great” team, added a caveat the Gunners need at least four world class players to become truly unbeatable.
Last season, Mourinho labelled Wenger as a “specialist in failure” which further strained their relationship. Wenger has now urged Mourinho to show more respect towards his rivals.
“The biggest thing of managers is to respect each other and some people have to improve on that,” Wenger said when asked to comment on Mourinho’s remarks.
It is in a way ironic as Wenger pushed Mourinho on the touchline during October’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea – certainly, he didn’t show any respect back then. Wenger however explains it was an impromptu reaction that took place in the heat of the moment.
“You can have incidents with other managers at times. It can get a bit heated when you fight directly with them at times. In the end, I believe time heals and what is the most important is to respect each other as much as you can.”
Over to you, Jose.
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